Exodus
by Kathryn Claire O'Connor
Summary: Part of the Highlights series! Four Martinez family drabbles inspired by as many verses in the book of Exodus.
1. Chapter 1

_The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace. ~ Exodus 14:14 (KJV)_

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Javier Martinez was not a temperamental man. He did not lose his composure easily. This man sitting across from him, though… All things considered, Javier wanted to ream him out.

Javier could understand being over the budget. He could understand not needing another set of hands on the job, and he could even understand having to fire a guy because of those things. That was – as much as it could be, anyway – okay. He just found it a little offensive that his boss was too preoccupied – not apologetic; just preoccupied – to look him in the eye as he handed him his check and told him to get off the jobsite.

But Javier just bit his lip, took his check, and walked away. He hadn't liked his boss, but he needed the job so that he could provide for his family. Since he apparently couldn't keep his job, a good, solid reference would come in handy, and he wouldn't get one of those if he chewed his boss out. So, fighting to keep calm while already praying for God's help in finding a new job, Javi kept his peace and walked away from the jobsite, having no idea about the amazing, life-changing experiences, that were going to head his way, starting with building Adam Mitchell's shed…

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**The first of four drabbles in the Exodus part of the "Highlights" series. Hopefully you enjoyed this. Reviews make my day if you feel so inclined! Thanks!:)**


	2. Chapter 2

_And the LORD said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me? Speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward. ~ Exodus 14:15 (KJV)_

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Javier genuinely could not believe the day that he had just had. There he had been, wandering through the middle of the street and – he would admit it – whining at God, when Adam Mitchell had called out to him, waving him over to help build his shed like he had been expecting him, even waiting for him, the whole time.

Now Javi was practically dancing his way up the walk to his house. It really had been a wonderful day, the circumstances of which were legitimately reaffirming to his faith.

That moment in the street, it had been like God was asking him why he had been moaning to begin with – why he hadn't just trusted Him to take care of the need of His child. Shouldn't he have known that God would have a plan in store for him?

All Javier had needed to do was go forward trusting his God and accept that plan, going into the rather miraculous unknown to follow it.

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**The second of four drabbles in the Exodus part of the "Highlights" series. Hopefully you enjoyed this. Reviews make my day if you feel so inclined! Thanks!:)**


	3. Chapter 3

_Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; ~ Exodus 20:5 (KJV)_

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"No, Jose," Javier repeated patiently into the phone. "I'm sure that it really will be a wonderful day, and you're your little Rosita really will be the best part of the whole evening, but I cannot come."… "Yes, _mi hermano, _I do realize that this is a very big deal for Catholic girls, and that you're very proud of your daughter."… "Of course you want your whole family to be at her first communion, but it's all the way in Mexico, and I just can't make that sort of money available right now for a trip down there, no matter what the occasion."… "I know, and I'm sorry, but it just cannot be worked out right now," here Javier hesitated before revealing to his brother another angle of his thoughts. "And, besides, I don't know that Isabel and Marcos would understand what was going on, let alone the differences in our faiths if they ask about them, and Carmen or I have to try to explain."

Javier felt sorry to have to be so blunt with his brother, but he really didn't want his children exposed at such a young age to the faith that so much of his family adhered to. He didn't want to confuse them, and he felt that they both deserved better than the possible confusion that it might cause them.

So he sighed, hoping his brother would understand as he repeated one more time, "I'm sorry, Jose, but we just can't come right now."

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**The third of four drabbles in the Exodus part of the "Highlights" series. Hopefully you enjoyed this. Reviews make my day if you feel so inclined! Thanks!:)**


	4. Chapter 4

_For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is, and rested on the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. ~ Exodus 20:11 (KJV)_

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"Oh!" Javier groaned softly, cracking his back as he made his way into the kitchen of his house and whispered, "This is not how Saturdays are supposed to be."

"Then I guess it's a good thing that it isn't Saturday anymore."

Javier nearly jumped out of his skin as Carmen's voice floated to him the moment before she became visible in the darkened doorway of the kitchen. "Carmen, what are you still doing up? It's midnight."

"I was waiting up for my husband to come home;" she said, stepping towards him and giving him the hug that she knew might lift his spirits. "I ask you to get a gallon of milk from the store, and you repay me by breaking the car."

"I did get the milk," Javier said, holding up the container for proof. "But I didn't break the car. The car broke down on me."

"And then the tow truck broke down when it was towing the car to the shop?" Carmen said with raised eyebrows, repeating what he had told her during a phone call throughout the whole ordeal.

"Yes," Javier chuckled, suddenly finding the situation funny for some reason. "This has got to be one of the worst days ever."

"But it's a different day now," Carmen repeated.

"It is, isn't it?" Javier asked, seeing that the clock on the stove read 12:03.

"Yeah. It's Sunday now, and that means that today you get to rest."

Javier sighed, "I love Sundays."

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**The last**** of four drabbles in the Exodus part of the "Highlights" series. Hopefully you enjoyed this. Reviews make my day if you feel so inclined! Thanks!:)**


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